Method for assembling and filling device a fluid dispenser product

ABSTRACT

A method of assembling and filling a dispenser device for dispensing a fluid substance made up of an active substance and of a propellant. The device includes a receptacle and a dispenser member, such as a metering valve, for dispensing the fluid substance. The method is characterized in that it includes the steps of assembling the dispenser member onto the receptacle in leaktight manner; inserting a determined quantity of propellant into the receptacle and/or into the dispenser member; storing the dispenser device for a determined storage time; checking and/or testing the dispenser devices so as to discard any devices that have defects; and filling the active substance to be dispensed only into those devices which have satisfied the checking and/or testing.

The present invention relates to a method of assembling and filling afluid dispenser device, and it applies more particularly to dispenserdevices containing an active substance mixed with or dissolved in apropellant.

A dispenser device for dispensing a fluid substance including apropellant generally comprises a receptacle containing both thesubstance to be dispensed and the propellant, and a dispenser membersuch as a metering valve mounted on said receptacle and suitable forselectively dispensing the substance contained therein. Between themetering valve and the receptacle, and inside said valve, sealinggaskets seal the device so as to prevent any leakage of the substanceand/or of the propellant.

The usual method of assembling and filling such a dispenser deviceconsists in fixing the valve to the receptacle, in particular bycrimping, in filling the receptacle with the substance to be dispensedand with the propellant, and then in storing the assembled and filleddevice for a determined duration in order to identify any devices thathave sealing defects such as leaks.

That method suffers from certain drawbacks. Firstly, the checking forsealing defects is performed on devices that are full of the substanceto be dispensed. If a leak is detected, the device in question isdiscarded so that the active substance that it contains is also lost.That can be a major drawback when the substance is expensive, whichapplies in particular to certain pharmaceuticals. Similarly, storingdevices filled with the substance can pose cost problems because adevice that has a high value is “tied up”. In addition, it is frequentfor the manufacturer of the device to be different from the manufacturerof the active substance to be dispensed by the dispenser. In which case,the manufacturer of the metering valve delivers its valves to itscustomer who must then perform all of the remaining steps of theassembling and filling method. In which case, the manufacturer of thesubstance must have access to the tools appropriate for assembling thedevice and to the means for storing the devices and for checking themafter the storage period.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of assemblingand filling a dispenser device for dispensing a fluid substanceincluding a propellant, which method does not suffer from theabove-mentioned drawbacks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such an assemblingand filling method that is less costly to perform and that increases theefficiency of the line for filling the devices.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such an assemblingand filling method in which a large proportion of the method, inparticular assembly, leak testing, and quality control, is performed onthe site of the manufacturer of the dispenser device.

The present invention thus provides a method of assembling and filling adispenser device for dispensing a fluid substance made up of an activesubstance and of a propellant, said device comprising a receptacle and adispenser member, such as a metering valve, for dispensing said fluidsubstance, said method being characterized in that it comprises thefollowing steps:

assembling said dispenser member onto said receptacle in leaktightmanner;

inserting a determined quantity of propellant into the receptacle and/orinto the dispenser member;

storing the dispenser device for a determined storage time;

checking and/or testing the dispenser devices so as to discard anydevices that have defects; and

filling the active substance to be dispensed only into those deviceswhich have satisfied said checking and/or testing.

The method of the present invention thus makes it possible to check theleaktightness of the assembled devices before they are filled with theactive substance, which offers a very considerable economic advantage,particularly when the active substances are costly. Thus, the efficiencyof the final filling line for filling the device is considerablyincreased and the losses of said active substance due to sealing defectsin the dispenser device are largely eliminated. In addition, if themanufacturer of the substance is not the manufacturer of the dispenserdevice, then the substance manufacturer handles the filling only, anddoes not need to have access to the means required for assembling thedevice.

In order to check the leaktightness before the device is finally filled,the present invention makes provision to store the assembled devicepreferably for a period in the range 7 days to 28 days, with a certaindetermined quantity of propellant, such as hydrofluoro-alkane (HFA) gas,contained in the device. This solution is inexpensive and veryeffective. The appropriate quantity of propellant is determined toguarantee that the sealing gaskets are put into a sealing condition, andin particular that said gaskets swell when in contact with saidpropellant during said storage period. By weighing the dispenser devicesbefore and after storage, it is possible to determine which devices haveunacceptable leaks. Only those devices which are properly leaktight arethen delivered to the active substance manufacturer, who then merelyfills the sealed devices with the substance and with the appropriatepropellant. Naturally, although a storage period of 28 days is oftenadvantageous, the storage period may be varied in any desired manner.Similarly, the leaktightness of the devices after storage may be checkedin any appropriate manner.

In addition, during or after the storage period, the device may also betested to check other characteristics of the device. Thus, the meteringaccuracy, i.e. the volume dispensed each time the device is actuated,may also be checked. Furthermore, the spray quality achieved when thedevice is actuated may also be checked. It is also possible to look forany presence of contamination of the substance, such as bacterialcontamination of said substance. In this way, only those devices that donot have any defects, i.e. that have passed the various quality testsand checks, are filled with the active substance. Naturally, checks ortests other than those described above may be performed during or afterthe storage period.

Prior to being stored for checking and/or testing purposes, the devicemay be prepared in various manners. Thus, the receptacle and/or themetering valve may be filled with the determined quantity of propellantbefore, after, or at the same time as the metering valve is assembledonto the receptacle. In particular, the receptacle is advantageouslypurged with the propellant before the device is assembled. The meteringvalve is advantageously assembled onto the receptacle by crimping, butany other suitable assembly technique may also be considered.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of assembling and filling a dispenserdevice for dispensing a fluid substance made up of an active substanceand of a propellant, said device comprising a receptacle and a dispensermember for dispensing said fluid substance, said method beingcharacterized in that it comprises the following steps: assembling saiddispenser member onto said receptacle in leaktight manner; inserting adetermined quantity of propellant into the receptacle and/or into thedispenser member; storing the dispenser device for a determined storagetime; checking and/or testing the dispenser device so as to discard thedispenser device when a defect is detected; and filling the activesubstance to be dispensed into the device when the device satisfies saidchecking and/or testing.
 2. A method according to claim 1, in which thestep of inserting a determined quantity of propellant is performedbefore the step of assembling the dispenser member onto the receptacle.3. A method according to claim 1, in which the step of inserting adetermined quantity of propellant comprises purging the receptacle withthe propellant.
 4. A method according to claim 1, in which the storingstep is performed for a storage time approximately in the range 7 daysto 28 days.
 5. A method according to claim 1, in which the checking stepcomprises weighing the dispenser before and after the storage time todetect and discard the dispenser when it has sealing defects.
 6. Amethod according to claim 1, in which the testing step comprises testingthe metering accuracy and/or the spray quality, and/or the presence ofany contamination of the substance.
 7. A method according to claim 1, inwhich said assembling step is performed by crimping the dispenser memberonto the receptacle.
 8. A method according to claim 1, in which thedetermined quantity of propellant inserted into the receptacle and/orinto the dispenser member before the storage time, and the duration ofthe storage time are suitable for putting the sealing gaskets into asealing condition, in particular by said gaskets swelling when incontact with said propellant.
 9. The method according to claim 1,wherein the dispenser member is a metering valve.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising performing the assembling,inserting, storing, checking and/or testing, and filling steps for aplurality of additional dispenser devices for dispensing the fluidsubstance made up of the active substance and of the propellant.